ramble
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Rough Week
I’ll be perfectly honest with you. The words aren’t popping onto the screen this morning. This is my first day back to blogging in a week due to issues with my website hosts. In fact, I still don’t have a front page. Hopefully that will be back soon.
But it’s not the downed site or the lack of blogging that’s holding up my thoughts.
We’ve had a rough week here. The really rough with deep hurts kind of week. That kind that makes you feel like your can’t possibly take another step, and you’re begging God just to hold you up.
I can’t seem to concentrate on my story or focus my mind long enough to put together a scene. Tomorrow is the first day of Nanowrimo. Never before have I doubted my ability to reach that 50,000 word goal. I don’t know. This year may be a real challenge.
In so many ways, I’ve been paralyzed. I thought back to the ACFW conference and remembered that class I thought would be interesting but didn’t take. “Writing Through Adversity”seemed optional at the time. Oh how I wish I’d have taken that. I think I’ll look into purchasing the audio.
The truth is, we’re all going to face hard times. There’s no avoiding that reality, but what do we do in the midst of our troubles? I think the answer to that question defines us more the trials we face.
Thanks for listening. In a small way, I feel better for having typed the words onto the screen. One of my favorite movie quotes comes from Gone with the Wind. Scarlett O’hara, in her wispy way, looks out into the future and says, “Tomorrow I’ll think of some way . . . after all, tomorrow is another day.”
And maybe tomorrow will bring joys that I can’t imagine right now.
I pray that you recognize a special blessing today!
Christina
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Plot and Life
This year I’m teaching two writing classes full of mostly kiddos that haven’t taken a class from me before. I’ve been pondering this week’s lesson about plot. Last week we discussed what makes a character interesting. Now we’ll apply that to what makes a plot interesting, and see how we can weave the two together.
One of the first things the students will do is define their character’s obvious and hidden needs. Hm. Could we actually apply that to ourselves and those around us?
I spend a lot of time noodling over my characters. What do they want? What do they need? Why? All this so I can understand them and, hopefully, write a story that is enjoyable while sending a message through their story. But the people in our real world have the need to be understood too. Maybe these flesh and blood type even have a stronger need to be heard than my characters. Okay, so if you’re not a writer, that last line may seem a little nuts, but trust me, those characters in my head are real!
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
James 1:19
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We’re Out of Bread!
We’re out of bread!
Maybe that seems like a simple issue. Go to the store and get more. But what you don’t know is that I went to the store three times last week. Yesterday my in-laws came for a visit and brought tons of yummy treats. Still…We’re out of bread.
My goal is to always be prepared and have extra of anything possible to store. In our garage, we have a second refrigerator and two freezers. I fill these with backups whenever that item goes on sale. With two teenaged boys and two growing girls, we need a lot of food.
But still, this morning, my husband looks at me and says, “Hey, we’re out of bread.”
Don’t misunderstand me. I love being a wife and mother. Taking care of my family is a privilege. It’s the grocery store I’m not fond of. Now that our local university is back in session, Fred Meyer is packed like a clown car at a circus. I actually had to drive around looking for a parking place. All this for the honor of pushing a cart with no tread on one wheel and an intermittent, high-pitched squeal. And when I get to the end of the journey, yep, that’s when I get to hand over all my money.
The other option is one of those huge, mega-warehouse establishments. It feels less crowded, at least until you get to the check out, but the fruit is only fruit in looks. One bite of that shiny apple and you know you’re tasting some kind of man-made replica. There’s no flavor. I don’t know how they do it, but this store has actually sucked the flavor out of their fruit.
All right. Deep breath. Here we go.
It’s time to accept my fate. We’re out of bread.
Today, I’ll be going to the grocery store.
What will you be doing?
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Noodling on Noodles
Today is national noodle day. Let’s celebrate with a bowl of spaghetti and a few facts.
- Macaroni was introduced into the United States by Thomas Jefferson.
- One billion pounds of pasta requires 2,021,452,000 gallons of water – enough to fill nearly 75,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.
- The first noodles came from China.
- Americas bought 1.3 million pounds of pasta last year. That is enough to circle the equator almost nine times with 16 oz. spaghetti packages.
- There are more than 600 pasta shapes.
- The first American pasta factory used a horse in the basement to power the machinery. It was 1848 after all.
Grandma’s Noodles II
Ingredients:1 egg, beaten1/2 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons milk1 cup sifted all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon baking powder (optional)Directions:1. Combine egg, salt, milk. Add flour. (For thicker noodles add baking powder to flour before mixing.) Separate into two balls. 2. Roll out dough, and let stand for 20 minutes. 3. Cut into strips and spread to dry–dust with a little flour. Let dry for approximately 2 hours. 4. Drop into hot soup–cook for about 10 minutes. This recipe is taken from www.allrecipes.com
Happy Noodle Day!
<p><a href=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2736″>Image: piyato / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>
